Review roundup: Apple's Snow Leopard sports subtle improvements

Critics are praising Apple's latest OS X upgrade, Snow Leopard, as a bargain-priced improvement that will help users get better performance out of their Mac, though there are some problems.

In general, reviewers are very positive about Snow Leopard, calling it a welcome performance boost with strong under-the-hood improvements. But what's really captivated everyone is the price: at $29, critics see the inexpensive upgrade as a no-brainer for most Mac users.

The new 64-bit architecture, built-in support for Microsoft Exchange, and the ability to open Mac OS X files while running Windows via Boot Camp are all welcome additions highlighted by reviewers.

But in the end, it's all about the performance: Applications load faster, and the OS install frees up an average of 7 gigabytes on a user's hard drive from Leopard.

That's not to say all is perfect. There are reports of applications that do not work or are glitchy in Snow Leopard. Some of the more popular software that has reportedly had problems includes Microsoft Word, Photoshop CS3 (which will no longer be supported for Snow Leopard), Growl, and CyberDuck. But as with any OS upgrade, some older applications will need to be updated in order to fully work with the new system. As has happened in the past, most software will likely see updates in just a matter of weeks to increase compatibility and performance issues.

Apple's "sleek upgrade" is truly optimized. A MacBook Air starts up in 72 seconds with Snow Leopard, while Leopard took 100 seconds.

Installation was fast (15 minutes) and freed up 7 gigabytes as promised.

Minor tweaks: Menu bar can now show the date, not just the day of the week; menu of nearby wireless hot spots shows the signal strength for each; icons can now be 512 pixels square, "turning any desktop window into a light table for photos."

When plug-ins crash in Safari, it doesn't take down the whole browser — "you just get an empty rectangle where they would have appeared."

Benefits for blind users: one new feature turns the trackpad into a "touchable map of the screen," and the computer speaks to the user as they touch each onscreen element.

Snow Leopard is like a series of boring but essential house renovations. "These are the things that keep a house functional and livable, and ensure that it'll still be a fun place to live in twenty years' time."

"It seems as though Apple's OS engineers spent the past year rummaging through all of the drawers and closets in the office, looking for every idea that they've come up with over the past few years that they've never been able to get to."

Does Snow Leopard feel faster? "Hell, yeah." Complex applications would complete tasks before having a sip of Dr. Pepper, unlike in Leopard.

"Grand Central Dispatch" makes use of multi-core processors, while OpenCL allows the OS to designate some processes to the computer's GPU. Together, they are "features that will speed up every existing app to a certain degree."

Application "Services" menu is now beneficial, allowing users to create their own via Automator. "It only took me about five minutes to create a service that converts any selected text in any app to an audiobook in iTunes, ready to be copied onto my iPhone the next time I perform a sync."

Dock Expose is favorite new feature: "It's far more than a simple window exposer." Can drag files to specific open windows by holding over the icon in the dock.

"Part of the reason Snow Leopard can promise faster, better applications is that it's designed for Macs with Intel chips, which Apple started using in early 2006. It won't run on older Macs with the previous PowerPC family of chips. The launch of the new operating system is a hint to get a new computer."

"Snow Leopard's benefits will be most apparent down the road, while Windows 7 promises more of an immediate payoff."

The new OS is "unlikely" to provide most buyers a reason to get excited about Macs.

With minor bugs and installation problems inevitable, it's probably best to wait a month before making the upgrade.

"Snow Leopard's benefits will be most apparent dwon the road, while Windows 7 promises more of an immediate payoff."

To make a fairer comparison, Snow Leopard is your healthy diet that means less problems when you get old, while Windows 7 is removing the stick that is Vista from your .... .

I like how most reviewers seem disappointed with "lack" of features. Apparently eye candy is the only thing worth paying for in their eyes still. I for one am incredibly excited for Snow Leopard, 64bit processors have been around for years now, and now there's finally a mainstream OS (sorry linux) that will get programmers to code for it.

Not one of these reviewers knows a damn thing about the technical advances in 10.6. They should either hire an expert or defer to sites dedicated to knowing it's technical advances.

To be fair, those reviews are targeting the general consumer who likely doesn't give a *&^% about underhood crap -- just look at them, they're all from newspapers. Their readers want to see immediate benefits (i.e. eye candy, new features, etc.).

He may even be right, but that shouldn't be taken as much of a compliment to Windows. Vista was such a... special experience... that it would have to improve mightily to catch up even with Leopard. Which it hasn't. I've got a Vista running in Boot Camp for games, so it's not like I haven't used the OS. Man, what a horrible experience. When I go over to my brother's place to place Warhammer, I try and make sure it's after his kids are asleep. There's a lot of swearing that goes on when I use Vista (like that wonderful shock you get when Vista quits your game and restarts because it just loaded an update without asking you, and now it's time to restart. SOOOO nice when you're in the middle of a pitched battle. The Mac client is notttttt quite polished, but it's getting there).

Must everyone lavish praise on the Snow Leopard? That being said, can't wait for my $10 upgrade to get here for my 13" MacBook Pro.

Not a question of praising, but what the hell was that comment about windows for? A guy makes a review of leopard just to say that isn't as much worthy of an upgrade as windows 7 wrt Vista?!? Can't people just criticize without appearing to be a shill for the competition? Where is subtlety gone?

But about w7, perhaps the guy changes his mind when he reckons that the upgrade of it will cost ten times that of leopard.